Liang Sheng sat in front of the mirror while Zhong Wen helped pin up her hair.

Her palms were full of sweat, damp and sticky, and it felt awful.

Fair skin. Delicate collarbones. This was the first time Liang Sheng had seriously looked at this body's face. It was beautiful.

She'd thought the Liang Sheng in the story was just a pure, cute girl. But the moment she saw this face, she realized she'd been wrong.

Her brows curved softly, her smile sweet and bright. Her posture was tender, her eyes full of feeling. This wasn't some innocent girl at all. This was Su Daji before King Zhou, charm spilling from every glance.

Seductive. That was the only word that truly fit Liang Sheng right now.

"Oh my, my girl is so pretty!" A delighted voice came from behind her. Zhong Wen looked at Liang Sheng with satisfaction, nodded, and smiled. "You've got my style from back in the day."

"Mom, you're still beautiful now. Standing next to me, you look like my sister~" Liang Sheng's mouth was sweet enough to make Zhong Wen laugh nonstop.

When the door opened, Liang Sheng secretly peeked downstairs. Wow. There were so many people, a dense sea of heads. Did Dad invite the whole city or what?

Zhong Wen nudged her out. "Go on now. Don't keep everyone waiting outside. You're the center of this banquet."

"I... I'm nervous." Liang Sheng's calves kept cramping, and cold sweat was breaking out on her forehead.

Without giving her a chance to resist, Zhong Wen dragged the trembling Liang Sheng right out.

The moment Liang Wengao saw her, his eyes crinkled into thin lines from smiling. He jogged over, went up the stairs, placed his daughter's hand on his arm, and led her downstairs.

"My, Old Liang, your daughter gets prettier every year!"

"This is your daughter? Oh my, she's already this grown? She's so lovely."

"How old is your daughter? She was born so beautiful."

Every single one of them was praising her to the skies and laying the flattery on thick.

But Liang Sheng loved hearing this kind of thing. The more, the better. The more exaggerated, the more she liked it. Look at her now—she was blooming with joy.

Liang Wengao stood in the center of the hall with a microphone and began his passionate speech.

"My daughter, Liang Sheng, risked her own safety a few days ago to save a young girl's life. That girl was about to jump off a building. She rushed forward without fear and grabbed her in one pull. To calm that girl's emotions, my usually quiet and gentle daughter actually got fierce. That was her reverence for life!"

The praise made Liang Sheng feel terribly embarrassed, and a little guilty too. That wasn't what she'd really been thinking at the time. What she'd actually been hoping for was... forget it. If she said it out loud, she'd turn into the vicious supporting female lead.

"She is my pride!" Liang Wengao shouted excitedly.

The guests around them burst into chatter too, each one laying it on thicker than the last.

"Good, good, good! Like father, like daughter!"

"At such a young age, and already this enlightened. Her future is bright!"

"What a little hero. So outstanding at such a young age!"

Those words made Liang Sheng even more embarrassed, but inside, she was still smug beyond belief. This was the power of having a daddy!

She looked around and found giant smiling faces everywhere. Under the flashy lights, they looked absurd. Tch. A bunch of fake-smiling people.

A lot of her classmates had come too. Liang Sheng had also invited Gu Yuqi, Song An'an, and Lu Ziqing. She didn't know if they'd actually show up.

When she turned her head, she noticed a few young ladies glancing her way with drifting eyes, whispering among themselves nonstop.

Annoyed, Liang Sheng told Liang Wengao where she was going, then turned and headed to the back garden.

The backyard was almost entirely filled with huge peonies. Blossoms clustered together in dazzling abundance, made even more enchanting by the green leaves around them. Although Liang Sheng's family hadn't stayed at this countryside villa for a long time, there were still gardeners taking care of it.

The peonies had grown beautifully. They'd just been washed by water, and crystal-clear droplets still clung to the petals. Lifting her skirt, Liang Sheng crouched down and tilted her head as she stroked the peony petals.

Peonies symbolized wealth and honor. People said lofty souls usually despised them. Liang Sheng sighed and suddenly felt sorry for the flower. It was clearly just a kind of flower, so why did it have to bear the label of greed and wealth? Why did poets have to use it as a metaphor for people chasing fame and fortune?

"Heh, you like peonies? How tacky." A shrill voice shattered the quiet flower-viewing and startled the one admiring them.

She turned and saw Jin Zhengxuan with a group of girls dressed like blooming branches.

Jin Zhengxuan wore that irritating smile on her face and spoke in a mocking tone. "Even elementary school kids know peonies are flowers of wealth. The people who like them are obviously just money-lovers. Right?"

Tch. What a disgusting expression. Liang Sheng couldn't be bothered with her and simply turned away, strolling into the pavilion.

"Tsk tsk, look at this lotus. Rising unstained from the mud, washed by clear ripples yet never seductive. I love lotus flowers. I'm not like worldly women like this." Jin Zhengxuan couldn't read the room at all and kept showing off her pitiful little bit of literary flair.

A girl beside her chimed in, "Such elegant words, Sister Xuan."

Jin Zhengxuan smiled smugly.

Liang Sheng sat down and gave a light laugh. "Heh, who says peonies are tacky? They're flowers of wealth and honor, yes, but where exactly does tackiness come in?"

"'The peonies before the courtyard are enchanting, but lack character. The lotus on the pond is pure, but too cold. Only the peony is true national beauty; when it blooms, it stirs the whole capital.' Miss Jin Zhengxuan, since your literary talent is so outstanding, why don't you explain what that means?"

Liang Sheng blinked at Jin Zhengxuan in open provocation.

"Th-this..." Of course Jin Zhengxuan couldn't explain it. What she knew was nothing more than textbook scraps.

Seeing her choke like that, Liang Sheng wanted to laugh, but she still had to keep up a dignified front. She held it in so hard her face turned red and purple.

Tch. A seventeen-year-old brat dared compete with a twenty-year-old big sister like her in memorized poetry? Not to mention this was some nouveau riche girl from a family so rich all they had left was money. Jin Zhengxuan was crude to the core.

"Alright, I won't make it hard for you." Liang Sheng curled her lips, then broke into a smile, revealing a row of white teeth.

She looked over Jin Zhengxuan's face. She did have a bit of beauty.

"But no matter how much you pretend to be a lotus, you're still an empty-headed fool, aren't you?" Liang Sheng said it on purpose, all sarcasm and shade, just to piss off this annoying woman.

Jin Zhengxuan's face turned the color of pig liver. She raised a trembling finger and pointed at the person mocking her, but couldn't force out a single word. She looked like she had Parkinson's.

"As for me~ Peonies are such noble flowers. I may be born beautiful and splendid, but I have the heart of a lotus seed." Liang Sheng spun in a circle and covered her mouth with one hand, putting on a shy act.

Then she strolled up to Jin Zhengxuan, lifted her chin with one hand, raised her brows, and softly breathed out a line.

"Lovely on the outside, but inside, nothing but weeds."

With that, she turned and walked back into the hall.

The girls left behind were grinding their teeth in fury. Jin Zhengxuan glared hatefully at Liang Sheng. "Sooner or later, I'll make you pay!" But in her heart, she was thinking: That was kind of cool...

Sigh. Women.

When Liang Sheng returned to the hall, no one noticed that her legs were trembling a little beneath her long dress.

That elegant, noble, sharp-tongued image had only been created through Liang Sheng's desperate acting. In truth, she was scared stiff.

Patting her chest, Liang Sheng thought that she'd pulled out everything she'd learned in her whole life. Good thing the other side was an idiot, or she'd have embarrassed herself badly.

"A-Sheng!" Song An'an came trotting over and gave Liang Sheng a huge bear hug.

"A-Sheng, you're so pretty!" I like you so much. Song An'an looked at Liang Sheng shyly, her big eyes blinking as she stood on tiptoe and clung to her.

Liang Sheng pinched her cheek and smiled. "An'an is cute today too~" She really was cute. The pink short skirt made Song An'an's face look rosy too, lively and clever.

No one knew what Song An'an suddenly thought of, but she let go at once, puffed out her cheeks unhappily, and muttered in a small voice, "Too bad we're both girls, so we can't dance together."

Liang Sheng scratched her head, and the corner of her mouth twitched. In a very straight-guy sort of way, she comforted her. "It's fine. I can't dance anyway."

But somehow, that clumsy line instantly cheered Song An'an up.

Her logic was simple. Since A-Sheng couldn't dance anyway, that meant A-Sheng couldn't dance with anyone else either!

After a while, Song An'an's mother suddenly waved for her to come over. She had no choice but to leave Liang Sheng's side reluctantly.

Once Song An'an left, the chirping voice disappeared, and the air suddenly went quiet. It made Liang Sheng feel oddly uncomfortable. But before she could even sigh over her loneliness, a whole crowd surrounded her at once—men, women, old, young, everyone.

"Miss Liang Sheng, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen." A boy who looked like some rich second-gen stared at her in a daze, making goosebumps rise all over Liang Sheng's skin. He wasn't even one-tenth as cool as Senior Gu Yuqi!

Then another girl came over, wearing a flattering smile, and cut in, "Sister Liang Sheng, tell me about how you saved that person!"

Before Liang Sheng could even say one word, an auntie beside her grabbed her hand and started rambling from one topic to another. She talked so much that Liang Sheng got completely dizzy and lost all sense of direction.

"Miss Liang Sheng." A male voice suddenly rang out, deep and pleasant like a cello. A boy who looked like the male lead from a Korean idol drama squeezed through the crowd and came to stand before her. He bent slightly, extended one hand toward her, and smiled. "Miss Liang Sheng, may I invite you to a dance?"

Can I say no... Big bro, there are so many pretty girls here, so why pick the one person who can't dance? Would square dancing work? Liang Sheng's head started to ache.

Everyone around them stepped back and left an open space. As if on cue, the music started playing too, leaving Liang Sheng completely at a loss.

"I..."

"She's my dance partner, sir."

A familiar voice came from nearby.

Liang Sheng looked over in surprise and saw a girl in a black formal suit, her hair tied low. Right. It was Gu Yuqi.

The boy hesitated, then straightened up and asked politely, "This... um, you look like a girl, right?"

Gu Yuqi strode over and smiled back at him. "Can girls not dance with girls?"

After saying that, she gave Liang Sheng a playful wink, making the other girl cover her mouth and giggle.

"I mean, I guess they can... but shouldn't it depend on what Miss Liang Sheng chooses?" The boy still refused to give up and turned back to ask Liang Sheng again.

Gu Yuqi extended her hand to Liang Sheng and asked with perfect grace, "Miss Liang Sheng, would I have the honor of sharing this dance with you?"

Liang Sheng didn't hesitate at all. She placed her hand directly in Gu Yuqi's and answered with a smile, "Yes."

"Sorry, sir. I really do already have a dance partner. We arranged it a long time ago." Liang Sheng apologized to the boy.

Though the boy was unhappy, he didn't dare show it. After saying "Alright" a few times, he left with his head hanging low. After all, his father worked under Liang Sheng's father. A small arm couldn't twist a big thigh. How would he dare get angry at his dad's boss's daughter?

Liang Sheng could only sigh again. Being rich and powerful really was nice.